Hope alone is not enough
Word on the street and in the pubs, about the concept of ‘hope’ is generally negative. Most addicts and alcoholics very quickly believe, deep down, there is no hope of a return to the early days of social using, when their lives were not dominated and blighted by substances. They may not readily say so, as there is always bravado to maintain. But they will all have tried to get clean or sober and will have watched their buddies do the same. Very few will have succeeded, and overwhelming evidence of failure will have been noted.
Even the few who will have managed to attain some consistent clean and sober time will have disappeared from sight, so those remaining in the world of deep substance abuse will just assume they have moved on to new people and places. It is very rare that someone finding recovery from dependence remains in the same places and circles. So the general understanding, even unspoken, is that the drug addiction and alcoholism is here to stay, come what may.
The SafeHouse website
The SafeHouse website pages are intended to unearth at least a glimmer of the hope that lurks within, and that all is not lost. We know from experience that no matter how far the down in the depths of dependence a person sinks, there is always an opportunity to escape and find life again. We have witnessed it many, many times. There are rehabs and self-help groups all over the world where down-and-out drunks and hope-to-die addicts have found salvation. It is not an empty promise. It can be done!
Despair will turn to just an inkling of hope, as the addict suddenly says to him or herself “maybe rehab will have something to offer”. After all, rehab is not a new concept, and if it couldn’t work, it wouldn’t have multiplied as a growth industry for the last 50 years. We have all seen the endless celebrities interviewed who have turned their lives around through institutions such as SafeHouse Rehab. Does this mean it’s just for celebs? Absolutely not. They are the tip of a huge, huge iceberg. Literally millions of ordinary people around the world have turned their lives around through rehab, aftercare and self-help methods.
Human beings were born with hope as a default emotion. Like so many other innocent and lovely emotions, they are slowly diminished through disappointment and failure. Bereavement aside, there is no greater disappointment and failure than an addict or alcoholic believing he or she is weak, hopeless, helpless, and completely under the control of a liquid, pill, or powder. And that is where alcoholism and addiction take all its victims. Hope disappears and despair reigns.
All that is needed is some willingness to hope; willingness to believe; and willingness to seek help. Recovery can follow soon enough, as will some faith and harmony, and the return of love in your life. All this has to be backed up by action. Hope without action is just a fantasy.
At SafeHouse, what little hope we can help a client muster to make the first call, to undergo a brief assessment, and to contemplate coming to us for help, will be magnified ten-fold as soon as he or she gets on the plane, and another ten-fold as they walk through the doors and see others getting well. Hope is infectious and is the starting point to change. It can change the demeanour of an individual immensely, and is the beginning of a new life where hope, joy and progress prevail every day!
